Stacey Lennox – March 18, 2021
Dr. Jordan Peterson rose to international prominence for opposing Bill C-16 in Canada in 2016. This legislation required Canadians to use an individual’s preferred pronouns amid the ever-growing list of gender identities. Dr. Peterson did not object out of “transphobia,” as many accused him of doing. Instead, he objected to the state passing a law that compelled speech, which was evident in his testimony and in every interview on the subject. He warned C-16 would be a slippery slope and result in punishment for speaking. Proponents of the bill told him that would never happen.
The bill passed into law on June 16, 2017. Dr. Jordan Peterson was vindicated when on March 16, 2021, at 10 a.m., Robert Hoogland surrendered himself to the court in response to a warrant issued for his arrest by the attorney general of British Columbia. His crime? Referring to his teen, a biological female, as “daughter,” referring to her with female pronouns, and refusing to affirm her medical transition to become a trans male. Peterson noted that this was inevitable:
Hoogland’s story, reported by the Post Millennial, is heartbreaking on many levels. He has consistently advocated for “watchful waiting” for his child. This approach means waiting until a child becomes an adult before he or she undergoes any permanent or irreversible treatment. In his interviews and court appearances, he notes that gender dysphoric children often desist as they mature. A compilation of studies shows that desistance happens frequently, although it is not predictable.
As Abigail Shrier has pointed out, watchful waiting is reasonable for young women. She explains that gender dysphoric women who wait until adulthood to undergo transgender alterations will present with a smaller stature, but the rest of the physical characteristics they seek to present as male, such as facial hair, will appear with later use of cross-sex hormones. She does note that taking cross-sex hormones is not without risk, and an adult is in a much better position to evaluate the risks and benefits.